Where the Thistle Grows: Pict by Time - Book One

 2023
Scotland is a land of lore and legend, but archeologist Caitriona Murray prefers physical evidence to ancient tales. Joining a major excavation off the northern Scotland coast, Caitriona cannot wait to discover a cave’s buried secrets. Because of reoccurring dreams of an ancient man’s death, she is convinced that a Pictish king is buried within those cave walls. But soon, Cait discovers more secrets in that cave than just bones.

Finding herself face to face with the man who haunts her dreams, Cait is thrown into the lost world she’d spent her entire life studying and is faced with an undeniable reality: she has traveled back in time, this king believes she is his bride, and Cait isn’t sure she will ever make it back home.

Danger threatens from every direction, but falling in love with a man destined to die brutally in battle may be her greatest downfall.

685 AD

King Brodyn Mac Cuill is determined to keep his people safe, even if it means marrying a strange woman from a rival tribe. An alliance is his only chance at gathering an army large enough to defeat their southern enemies, the Angles, who challenge him daily.

When his bride arrives, she is confused and resistant to marriage. She isn’t the bride he’d hoped for, but lives are at stake. His new bride confuses him with her strange behavior, yet he finds her fascinating and irresistible. When danger follows in her wake, Brodyn must question her loyalties and everything he ever knew.

Their connection is undeniable, but can he trust his bride, who claims to be from the future, or is she a trap sent by his enemy? 

 2023

Growing up an orphan, the only family Emilie Wilshire ever had was her best friend, Caitriona. But ever since Cait fell through the veil of time, Emilie’s attempts to follow have fallen flat. The same cave that pulled her friend through rejects Emilie every time. Now she’ll never see Cait again or meet her son, Lucas. Living alone in a small flat in the heart of Edinburgh, Emilie works as a tour guide and spends her nights researching her geology, making a fascinating discovery: she is a descendant of Caitriona’s son.

After leading a tour of Edinburgh’s haunted underground vaults, a terrifying encounter leaves Emilie with a head injury. When she awakens, she finds herself in another place and time — Cait’s time. However, Emilie’s reunion with Cait is compromised when she discovers why she was sent back in time: Lucas is in danger, and only Emilie can save him. If she fails, her entire family line disappears—including herself.

686 AD

Goodwin Mac Dougal has long been satisfied with his life as a warrior, guard to the royal family, best friend to the king, and casual relationships with women. But ever since King Brodyn fell in love with a woman from the future, Goodwin has been restless, seeking more from life than fighting enemies and meaningless encounters with women. But in this wee village, no lass strikes his fancy.

When a strange woman arrives, bound and slung across another warrior’s horse, Goodwin is immediately drawn to this mysterious woman—and he knows that wherever she is from, it is not the year 686. She claims to know Queen Caitriona, and Goodwin recognizes her odd ways. Emilie, a beauty unlike any other, is from the future.

Though she has a bonny face, her arrival means danger looms. When he’s tasked with guarding her, Goodwin must also guard his heart, for she will return hosame cave that pulled her friend through rejects Emilie every time. Now she’ll never see Cait again or meet her son, Lucas. Living alone in a small flat in the heart of Edinburgh, Emilie works as a tour guide and spends her nights researching her geology, making a fascinating discovery: she is a descendant of Caitriona’s son. 

686 AD

She is a woman ahead of her time.

As the sister of the powerful King of the Picts, Murielle Mac Cuill is expected to marry strategically. Clan feuds threaten their borders, and Murielle understands her duty: she must marry a rival king to solidify peace. But when every king falls short of meeting expectations, Murielle dares to pursue the man she truly desires. Her brother and her guard both found happiness with travelers from the future. Now, it’s her turn.

Since the day Samuel stepped onto their land—and into their time—Murielle has been drawn to him and his tales of the future. She is strong-willed, curious, outspoken, and intelligent—an unfortunate combination of attributes for a woman to possess in her era. But Samuel respects her free spirit, and Murielle is determined to marry him and live in 2023… until the day an unexpected visitor arrives from the south. His name is Aldfrith, King of the Britons, and much to Murielle’s dismay, he’s a perfect marriage match. A union between the Picts and their southern rivals would lay generations of feuding to rest. He’s handsome, intelligent, and progressive. His only flaw is the one Murielle cannot accept: he isn’t Samuel Sullivan.

He is a man trapped by time.

Archaeologist Samuel Sullivan has been stuck in the same time loop for more lives than he can count. In every lifetime, he is born remembering his duty: he must unite the warring Celtic clans so they will one day form a united Scotland. He always succeeds at achieving peace, but does he ever succeed at finding love? Cruelly, he has no memory beyond saving the timeline, and pursuing the woman he desires may destroy everything. His love for the king’s sister is dangerous, for she must marry a king, and he cannot intervene.

When Murielle runs out of proper suiters, Samuel allows himself to hope for a future with her—until King Aldfrith arrives. Regarded as prosperous, fair, and revolutionary, King Aldfrith may be the Pict's greatest chance at securing peace with their southern neighbors. If Murielle is meant to marry King Aldfith, Samuel must walk away to prevent destroying all he’s worked hard to create... even if leaving means destroying his chance at happiness.

Bereft and brokenhearted, Samuel returns to 2023, desperate to focus on work and move forward without Murielle. But Murielle will not simply let him walk away from the life they both want. If he insists on returning to his time, she will follow him to the future. Is Murielle Mac Cuill prepared for the year 2023?

Is the year 2023 prepared for Murielle Mac Cuill? 

   Fraserburgh, Scotland: October 31, 1941

While war wages around the world, Anya MacLean fights her own battle at home. Several air raids have hit Fraserburgh and killed many good people, including Anya’s father. To help, Anya works as a nurse, but her efforts cannot stop the bombs from falling.

When another air raid strikes her town on All Hallows Eve, Anya is forced to seek shelter in the one place everyone avoids—the haunted cave beneath the town’s lighthouse. Anya is no stranger to the world of the dead. For most of her life, she has communicated with souls trapped in the world of the living. But on this night—when the veil between the living and dead is lifted—Anya encounters two spirits who will change her life forever… and one looks exactly like her.

But there is more to the haunted cave than the spirits who dwell in its depths. When Anya steps outside, she discovers she is no longer in Fraserburgh. And when a wolf howls nearby—a creature extinct in Scotland for hundreds of years—Anya realizes she has not only been transported to another place but also to another time.

And the cloaked man awaiting her on the shore of this strange place, whose pet wolf glares at Anya with its keen yellow eyes, looks exactly like the other spirit she encountered in the cave.

Except, now he is flesh and blood. He claims to be her soulmate in every lifetime, which is absurd. So, why does she believe him?